The Projectionist "A Passion for Film"

[Graham Ritchie]

Came across this outstanding documentary today and well worth taking the time to watch.

[Ed Gordon]

An interesting biography on someone very passionate about film. I did find the comments about Nitrate film a bit disconcerting. If he is still driving around with a trunk load of Nitrate films, let us hope it is not something like the Ford Pinto!

[Graham Ritchie]

Regarding the use of Nitrate film Ed, the "Glen Cinema Disaster Documentary " highlights the fear of fire, and in this case, the panic that was caused in this tragic event, in the days when it was widely used in the cinema.

This link is only part one, part two and three, are also on you-tube.

[Ed Gordon]

Unsurprisingly, the real militancy on the nitrate front came from the projectionists themselves, who were, after all, the likeliest to suffer the consequences of a flare-up. Often blaming fires on poor booth layout and inadequate union consultation in business matters, the projectionists made a compelling, if unsuccessful case. From an astonishing November 1936 issue of International Projectionist:

Five projectionists in as many widely scattered states of this otherwise glorious Union have died in projection booth fires during the past ninety days. Ninety divided by five is eighteen. Not a bad average, this—especially for an industry that prides itself on the comfort and peace and relaxation and opportunity for escape from dreary reality that it provides daily for the “masses” of this world.

Masses! The word somehow sticks in one’s mind. Maybe this industry of ours that disdains anything less than superlatives must have mass killings, due to its own delinquencies, before it comes out from behind the smoke screen of glamour and romance laid down by high-powered publicity and reveals its true raiment of false front and ballyhoo.

From "Burned Out: The Nitrate Legacy" at: https://www.chicagofilmsociety.org/2...itrate-legacy/

[Graham Ritchie]

Very interesting Ed, even at the cinema where I once worked they had "Steel Fireproof Doors" as shown above, that in our case were held up by a magnet. If we had a power cut, which did happen every so often those steel doors would come crashing down. I think some of those regulations are a flow on from the past, as all the film these days are safety film.

I think those "steel fire doors" we had were fitted so the public could not see the projectionist running around like a headless chicken when things went wrong

[Ed Gordon]

Graham, do you know when your old cinema was built? From what I have read, the change to safety film was essentially done by 1955. I would think that any theater built after than would not have the old concrete bunker projection booths.

[Ed Gordon]

But wait, there is more...

Former Annecy Director Serge Bromberg Faces Prison Term For Deadly Film Reels Fire

By Melanie Goodfellow
November 25, 2022 3:56am

Serge Bromberg, a former artistic director of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, is facing a four-year prison sentence for his role in a deadly fire involving nitrate film reels.

The case, which was tried in the courthouse of Creteil on the outskirts of Paris this week, relates to a tragic fire in August 2020, when nitrate film reels he was stocking in the basement of an eight-story apartment block on the outskirts of Paris burst into flames during a heatwave.

One person living directly above the site of the fire was burned alive while another person died when they tried to jump to safety from the fourth floor. The building was relatively empty at the time because it was the height of the summer holidays.

Bromberg, who was tried on charges of committing involuntary manslaughter and injury as well as putting others in danger, took full responsibility for the tragedy at the trial.

“I would like to say that I am the sole person responsible for this drama. It is my fault and exclusively my fault,” Bromberg was reported to have told the court by local media. “I am unforgivable and I hardly dare ask for forgiveness.”

Bromberg was artistic director of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival from 1999 to 2012, but after his departure from that role he devoted himself to the restoration and distribution of vintage films under the banner of Lobster Films, which he created in 1985.

He is a respected figure on the film restoration and classic film festival scene. Paris-based Lobster Films, run jointly with Eric Lange, employs a team of some 25 people and has a library of 50,000 vintage films, consisting of more than 210,00 reels of film.

Prosecutor Missiva Chermak-Felonneau stated that Bromberg had stocked his personal film reels as well as those of Lobster Films in a storage space under building in the Vincennes area on the eastern edge of Paris, without authorisation.

Old nitrate film reels are notoriously inflammable and should be stored in a space under refrigerated conditions. Fires involving nitrate films reels are difficult to extinguish and let off highly toxic gases. As an experienced film restorer, Bromberg was aware of the dangers of nitrate film reels, said Chermak-Felonneau.

She said that the air conditioning in Bromberg’s storage space had been cut in 1998 after the neighbors had complained about the noise. She added that the space had not been equipped with a fire alarm and that a firewall had disintegrated soon after the fire broke out.

Investigators estimated that between 1,364 to 1,953 reels were being stored in the space at the time of the blaze. Bromberg told the trial there had been precisely 965 reels.

He said the space was used as a holding place for a few reels, destined for France’s National Cinema Center (CNC), to be restored and preserved under its cinema conservation programs but that there had been a delay in the handover.

The prosecutor asked why Bromberg had not thought to store reels in a more remote location and said that the fire and tragic deaths were entirely caused by his failure to conform to rules around the stocking of old film reels.

Under France’s judicial process, she asked for a four-year sentence, three of them suspended, and a $150,000 (€150,000) fine for Lobster Films.

A judge will make a final judgement on the sentencing in January 2023.

https://deadline.com/2022/11/annecy-...ls-1235181686/

[Brian Fretwell]

I have a DVD from Lobster Films, bought after a talk and film show from them in NFT1 on the Southbank.

[Graham Ritchie]

Hi Ed

The cinema was built around 1990 I came on the scene in 1999 until it closed in November 2011. The cinema was only one of two that still could operate during most of 2011 as the big ones like Reading and Hoyts has suffered a lot damage from the 2011 earthquakes. In saying that strong aftershocks continued almost daily right through most of that year I remember one night hanging onto the Bauer while watching the simplex and in the distance the Kinoton shake, I fitted an extra bracket going from the top of the Kinoton to the wall. That night I shut everything down and went into each cinema to see how everyone was, and asked? did they want me to continue? it would take a few minutes I said. Well everyone wanted to see the end of the movies didn't they, know aftershocks were doing to put these people off.

I have to admit that 2011 was a nerve wracking year for both the manager and me, we were being offered so much product, films everywhere It didn't bother the kids downstairs, as they would quickly would go onto geo-net to see what the magnitude was of the latest, usually between 4-5 all those shakes were really violent.

Anyway Ed, if you look at the video I took of the place you will see that all the windows in the projection room has steel shutters, held up by a center string connected to a rotating tube. The projection room was also fitted out with sprinklers as well, however if they went off "thankfully they never did" with all the electricity from the amps, projectors etc underneath them, you would not want to hang around, it would be a case of hit that "main switch" and get out.

PS. The five deck platter and the Bauer U4 now live with me.

[Ed Gordon]

Graham, your comment, "I think some of those regulations are a flow on from the past, as all the film these days are safety film" is the most likely reason for the continued presence of automatic fire steel shutter doors. Regulation tends to be implemented after a tragedy, and never go away. I was surprised by the presence of automatic sprinklers. I would have thought that Halon gas would have be used instead. I remember it being present in all computer centers I worked in. We would note the location of gas masks and the nearest exit whenever entering the rooms. I assume that in today's projection rooms, the most dangerous equipment is an exploding Xenon bulb.

[Brian Fretwell]

I don't think halon gas is allowed now due to toxicity. However any cinemas (NFT2 for example) that wants to show nitrate has to have the old precautions and sometimes more to get a certificate to do so. The projectors in NFT2 had CO2 cylinders to flood the projector mechanism which would both extinguish any thing other than the film that caught fire (the reels would have been isolated and the film cut at the edges of the enclosed reels by gun-cotton thread near the gate) and cool everything due to its cooling as it expands from the high pressure cylinder.

[Ed Gordon]

Halon gas is still in use, but it is no longer produced. Existing stock is recycled. Manufacturing Halon was ended due to it's negative affect on ozone.

The crazy thing is that Nitrate film is still being projected! See Dispatch: The 2022 Nitrate Picture Show.

...At one screening, festival founder and former Eastman House curator Paolo Cherchi Usai described projecting Rope as an exercise in performance art: the cuts in the film’s “single-take” illusion are hidden in the reel changes, making the film’s haute tension conceit dependent on the expertise of the projectionists. Every film at the festival opened with acknowledgements and extended applause for the projectionists—Patrick Tiernan, Ben Tucker, Chris Crouse, Nicole Diroff, Florian Höhensteiger, and Sheryl Smith—toiling away in the fireproofed booth for our entertainment.

...Both films were first-time watches for me, and the uneven textures of the prints engrossed and enthralled me, even when the projector dimmed and the image stopped for a brief moment on a dangerously shrunken stretch of Meshi. It was a reminder of what makes attending the Nitrate Picture Show a haunting experience unlike any other: you never know if you’ll be among the last audience ever to see a print on screen.

[Graham Ritchie]

Ed

That video showing one exploding, shows the force even with the lamp being cold, at running temperature even more so. Those folk in the video were fortunate the glass did did not hit there neck or eyes, downright dangerous. I captured us changing one on the Kinoton wearing safety gear. In 10 years, I only had two explode one in the Simplex, the other in the Bauer U4. In the case of the Simplex the mirror had to be replaced as well, as there was a lot of damage done to it. The bottom line with all extreme pressure Xenon lamps, is to respect them and not take any chances, its not worth it.

[Ed Gordon]

... In 10 years, I only had two explode one in the Simplex, the other in the Bauer U4. In the case of the Simplex the mirror had to be replaced as well, as there was a lot of damage done to it. The bottom line with all extreme pressure Xenon lamps, is to respect them and not take any chances, its not worth it.

...and I thought being a projectionist was a safe job!

[Graham Ritchie]

Nope it had its moments people often think that being a projectionist you sit around and watch films, I only ever looked at the screen every so often for focus, and nearly in every session, enter the back of the cinemas at the start, and check the sound level is adjusted right, for the size and age of the patrons. I always believe in trying to make sure folk do enjoy the cinema experience and want to come back. One thing you don't want to happen is to scratch a film. I did hear of a multi-plex who damaged a reel of a James Bond film. They did get a replacement reel alright, but also a $500 dollar bill for it. scratching a film would usually lead to a court martial for the projectionist before being shot at dawn, so it did pay to double check your threading

Every film print we dealt with was inspected and a condition report faxed to the the distributor, plenty of film prints were always coming and going so there was always something to do. Found a picture of a $800 dollar lamp that blew in the Simplex years ago. The lamp was still well within warranty like the one in the Bauer that went BOOM, so replacement lamps were at no cost to us, however the warranty did not cover for a new mirror, we had to pay for that

I call these our old "BOOM" photos, not much left of a expensive lamp, but thankfully only "two" lamps ever went "BOOM" in 10 years.